lawyer said yesterday.

Mr. Peter Smith said more and more people were complaining about being ripped off.

But there was very little consumer legislation in Bermuda.

Mr. Smith, a consultant with Mello, Hollis, Jones & Martin, is chairman of the Law Reform Committee.

He made his comments to Hamilton Rotarians yesterday.

Mr. Smith said the Law Reform Committee had investigated bringing in new legislation.

"This type of legislation is comparatively new but we are finding it necessary as more and more complaints are being made about the public being taken advantage of, sometimes unwittingly, sometimes deliberately.'' Mr. Smith said his committee had prepared a report recommending laws similar to the United Kingdom Trade Descriptions Act 1968.

"Another report dealing with exemption clauses is currently being studied by the sub-committee responsible for the review of this subject.'' Mr. Smith said before 1978 there was no Sale of Goods Act.

"On the whole the act has worked well but it needs looking at again in light of modern views relating to consumer protection and guarantees and warranties relating to goods.

"For example, what is the position if a person buys a washing machine which has a three months guarantee? "During the period of guarantee it breaks down because of a defective part and it takes the local vendor six months to get that spare part from the manufacturer.'' Mr. Smith told the gathering about other legal problems.

He said the Conveyancing Act had two flaws.

"One is that the period in which voluntary conveyances must be registered is too short as it was taking far too long for the Accountant General to assess stamp duties.

"The other is more serious and is caused by a change of thinking world wide on the subject of trusts.

"This relates to the words `intent to defraud'. In law the test is objective and not subjective so that if property is put into a trust, the trust could be set aside by a creditor many years later.

"A sub-committee has been trying to find an equitable balance between the rights of creditors and those of settlors who have legitimate reasons for protecting their assets.

"I understand that after much discussion the sub-committee considering this matter has come up with a solution to this difficult problem and we should have a change in the law soon, which will be good news.'' Mr. Smith said the Law Reform Committee had been in existence 24 years.

"Where do we go from here? The law is a living thing, it is not a dead thing,'' he said. "Ideas and society change and the law needs to be kept up-to-date and must be looked at constantly to find out whether it needs to be brought up-to-date, whether it needs to be changed, whether it fits the social conditions.''